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'Supergirl': Everything you need to know about the DCU's upcoming movie

'Supergirl': Everything you need to know about the DCU's upcoming movie

Tom's Guide4 days ago
The revamped DC Universe (DCU) is off to a soaring start, with James Gunn's "Superman" surpassing $400 million at the box office. It also folded an important new hero into the mix, 'House of the Dragon' and 'Sirens' star Milly Alcock as Supergirl, who is set to get her own standalone movie next year.
And the origin story for the Man of Steel's hot-headed cousin looks to be just as chaotic as her cameo.
This reboot promises to introduce a bolder, edgier tone to the new DC Universe—so here's everything you need to know about "Supergirl."
Look Out. 2026. pic.twitter.com/IdAvUNfcXxJuly 16, 2025
"Supergirl" is scheduled to launch in theaters worldwide on June 26, 2025. That means Supergirl will officially soar into the DCU nearly a year after James Gunn's "Superman" hit theaters.
While he's not directing the film, Gunn confirmed that principal photography for the project wrapped in May, so post-production should be in full swing by this point. So while delays aren't impossible, there's every reason to believe Supergirl's first standalone venture in the DCU will hit its scheduled release date.
The "Supergirl" movie is based 2021's 'Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow,' an eight-issue comic book miniseries written by Tom King and illustrated by Bilquis Evely. Initially, the movie retained the comic's "Woman of Tomorrow" subtitle before Gunn confirmed in June it was shortened to simply "Supergirl."
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This epic, space-faring adventure leans more toward the cosmic vibe of Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy" than the character-driven storytelling we saw in "Superman." That tonal difference should help set it apart from the Man of Steel's first outing in the revamped DCU.
The movie doesn't have an official synopsis yet, but in the comics, the story centers on a jaded Kara Zor-El (aka Supergirl) who finds herself at a crossroads. Struggling with a sense of purposelessness, she feels adrift now that her younger cousin, Kal-El (Superman), can fight his own battles and no longer needs her protection.
Just as she's on the verge of walking away from it all, a young alien warrior named Ruthye Marye Knoll pulls her into a revenge quest. As she sets out to track down Krem, who killed Ruthye's father and destroyed her home, it soon becomes a race to save Krypto's life after he's critically injured in a fight.
"We will see the difference between Superman, who was sent to Earth and raised by loving parents from the time he was an infant, versus Supergirl, raised on a rock, a chip off of Krypton, and who watched everyone around her die and be killed in terrible ways for the first 14 years of her life and then come to Earth," Gunn said in a 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
"She is much more hardcore and not the Supergirl we're used to."
So far, only a few actors have been confirmed for "Supergirl." As we said before, Milly Alcock is starring as the titular superhero Kara Zor-El. The movie will feature "3 Body Problem" star Eve Ridley as Ruthye, Matthias Schoenaerts as the villainous Krem of the Yellow Hills, and Jason Momoa in a small role as DC anti-hero Lobo.
Lobo, who doesn't appear in the "Woman of Tomorrow" comic, possesses superstrength and rapid healing abilities in the same vein as Wolverine and roams the galaxy as a ruthless bounty hunter with deadly marksmanship.
David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham are also on board as Kara's parents, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed in January.
"Supergirl" will be directed by Craig Gillespie with a screenplay by Ana Nogueira of "The Vampire Diaries" and "Hamilton" fame.
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You can see a lot of orange and autumnal undertones in all the set dressing, and in a lot of the costumes as well.' She continues: 'We did look at a lot of newsrooms, and it was really important to James that we had screens everywhere, so you could see that it was an advanced media company. It does have all the screens and videos playing around you at all times. But we also wanted it to feel timeless, so you'll see we have landline phones at all the desks [for] a little bit of a vintage nod. We [also] made sure that the computers weren't the most cutting-edge. It was [also] a lot of paper products, which is not always the case in newsrooms today. Things have gone more digital, but we stacked up paper everywhere." While the production shied away from the traditional Art Deco look oft-associated with the Daily Planet (and Metropolis at large), Mickle did include a tribute to Superman's retro origins with custom murals from graphic designer Mary Shriner. 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You can see these little fake granola bars we made. That really thoughtful and authentic detail came from Rachel.' Hall of Justice Hall of Justice in 'Superman' (2025) Interestingly, the Hall of Justice scenes were filmed at the very building that inspired the fictional headquarters in the original comics: Cincinnati Union Terminal. 'What a wonderful treat to get to go back to the original source of what it was supposed to be and actually shoot the exterior, use that real inspiration from the original, and get to put that in the movie,' emphasizes Mickle. 'And then we were just so lucky that the interior was so striking and well-preserved. That's one of my favorite scenes, when we get in there and and turn and look toward that huge, gorgeous ceiling and those front windows. I grin every single time.' If you notice, the interior of the Hall is under renovation, which was not a framing gaffe, but a deliberate choice by the filmmakers. 'We brought all that in because we wanted to show that this is the new space the Justice League is moving into. James had the idea that the Hall of Justice was provided to the Justice Gang by a benefactor, and that the benefactor would have bought an old, disused train station and let them set up shop there. The idea is that they have just started to move in.' Could that mysterious benefactor be billionaire Bruce Wayne? 'I'll leave that to be discovered in future films,' Mickle teases. 'But yes, they have a benefactor.' Streets of Metropolis DAVID CORENSWET as Superman in 'SUPERMAN,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Since the production was already in Cincinnati, Gunn & Co. decided to use the famous Ohio city for the exterior of Metropolis, which allowed Mickle to incorporation a number of subtle Easter eggs around town. 'When you see Superman fall in the very beginning of the movie, he comes falling back down to earth and goes through the sidewalk. Malik, the vendor, helps him get up, and you can see a big museum of modern art behind him," Mickle says. "It was a big bank building we turned it into the Metropolitan Museum of Art. If you look in all the windows, the artwork shows birds morphing into planes. And the idea is [a reference to] 'It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Superman!'" We worked really hard on that." She also reveals that nearly every written name — 'in street signs, in a directory, or in a book' — is a reference to iconic DC artists, members of the film crew, and, most important of all, Superman's two creators: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. 'So if anybody wants to go back up and look up what all those street names are, it's really fun,' she himts. 'You'll be able to tie it to somebody significant to the film.' Kent family farmhouse DAVID CORENSWET as Superman in Warner Bros. Pictures' 'SUPERMAN,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. 'James was really clear that he didn't want it to feel like the big, sprawling, idyllic farm houses that we've seen before in the Superman lore,' Mickle remembers. 'He felt like it should be a very well-loved, humble home that had loving parents that tended to this farm. But it wasn't a big, sprawling, generational farm of hundreds of acres and massive square footage … Our wonderful location manager, Ian [Easterbrook], sent out his scouts, and about an hour south of where the stages were, they found this absolutely beautiful farm [with] very idyllic rolling hills. Of course, it had the giant farmhouse across the street, but the house that we ended up filming in was the little in-laws' cottage right next to the barns and surrounded by farmland.' Fortunately, the crew didn't have to change much of the interior, which already had a charming, lived-in quality to it. "The paint color was already yellow, it had this great shaggy carpet inside. We embraced a lot of that," the production designer continues. 'We did a little painting inside and then Rosemary Brandenburg, our set decorator, redressed the whole inside. But a lot of it was already just part of the beautiful fabric of what that home was to start with.' She goes on to discuss the look of Clark's childhood bedroom: 'Rosemary had a great idea of looking at all the little things that Clark would have explored as a kid. You'll see a little space shuttle and rock collections in the background. He thought he could've have been an athlete so there's a little nod [to that with] baseball caps. Also family photos everywhere. We wanted it to be very warm and inviting and a place where a little boy would have loved growing up — just to make it clear that Ma and Pa Kent made a loving home for him as a little boy, and that he was really supported. And then the idea was that after he left for [college], he hadn't come back to live there, so it kind of remained a little bit of a time capsule of his years of growing up there. Now that I think about it, too, the bedspread and curtains have some Superman colors in there. It was a nice little nod to what was going to come.' Check out behind-the-scenes photos from James Gunn's Superman (2025) Concept art for Superman's Fortress of Solitude Concept art for Superman's Fortress of Solitude Concept art for Superman's Fortress of Solitude 'Superman' production designer Beth Mickle on the Fortress of Solitude set Fortress of Solitude set Fortress of Solitude set Fortress of Solitude set Fortress of Solitude set Fortress of Solitude set Fortress of Solitude set Fortress of Solitude set Fortress of Solitude set Fortress of Solitude set Fortress of Solitude set Superman is now playing in theaters everywhere. Click here for tickets!

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